cooking with michèle ♥

Daifuku Mochi (大福餅)

2011-06-18T02:33:00.000-04:00

A traditional Japanese confectionery filled with traditional homemade red bean and black sesame paste.

Chewy, soft mochi filled with homemade sweet red bean paste and sweetened black sesame paste :)

> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Easy

I do realize it's been forever since I last posted. I don't have any excuses besides the fact that Anime North had me sewing day and night, and my course had me studying for la plupart de Juin. In any case, this was requested a long while ago by somebody, so here it is and I'm sorry for the delay! Honestly, boxed mochi isn't expensive to buy. In fact, it's probably even more convenient if you went out to buy it yourself, assuming you live near an Asian supermarket. If you don't, you may find it difficult to find glutinous rice flour, which is pretty essential. In any case, this is the easy/lazy way of making mochi, but it works, so why not? :P However if you don't have heat resistant hands (like I do), you need to be careful with this recipe, I'm not sure what I can tell you. Typically, you'd be pounding the mochi with a kine in an usu (mallet and... mortar-type thing), but here, I use my hands to do so. Please be careful ): !

Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice flour (shiratama-ko)

If you can't find shiratama-ko, you can use mochi-ko with a 1 tbsp of corn or potato starch.

1/4 cup of sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup coconut milk

This is optional! You can use 2/3 cup of water, but I like the fragrance the coconut milk adds. You can change the ratio however you'd like as long as it adds up to 2/3 cup, but I wouldn't use too much coconut milk as it might overpower the filling.

Anko paste filling

1 cup dry red beans
1 cup sugar (or to taste)

Black sesame paste filling

1 cup black sesame seeds
1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar (or to taste)

Methods:
Preparing the Anko Paste *As the process for this is long, prepare the anko paste ahead of time, you can keep it in the fridge!:

Soak the red beans in water for at least 7-8 hours (best to do it overnight).
Drain the water and pour the beans into a pot. Add enough water to fully immerse the beans. Bring to a boil and test for softness. If it isn't soft enough to easily smush, they're not ready. Keep the beans on low-med heat (simmering), this may take up to 2-3 hours. **If the water gets too foamy, change the water!
Still on low-med heat (simmering), when the beans are ready, smush them all with a wooden spoon so you get a soupy anko-coloured consistency.
Add the sugar, you can add more if you like your anko sweeter! Keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick enough that you can scrape the beans and see the bottom of the pot (without the mixture pooling over it).
Take it off heat and let it cool (it will harden as it cools). If you did this the night before, cover it and put it in the fridge.
When cooled and paste-like, make small 1 inch or so balls.

Preparing the Black Sesame Paste:

Using a coffee grinder or whatever grinder you own, grind the black sesame seeds until they become like a powder.
On low-med heat, pour the powder into a pot and add a couple of tablespoons of water. Stir and add the sugar. Keep stirring until a thick black paste forms, make sure it's thick enough by doing the anko test in step 4.
Taste the paste, add more sugar if it's not sweet enough (it should be pretty sweet) and mix it well. When it's ready, take it off heat and let it cool.
When cool and paste-like, roll them into 1 inch or so balls.

Making the Mochi:

In a microwaveable bowl, mix the coconut milk, water and sugar together. Portion by portion, add in the glutinous rice flour until mixed well.
Prepare a flat surface (pan/table/etc.) and dust it with some glutinous rice flour.
Microwave the mixture for 2 minutes. Stir the dough with a wooden spoon. Put it in for another minute or so until the dough inflates (keep watch on the dough, if it's inflated, take it out!)
Quickly take out the dough, dust your hands with glutinous rice flour, and throw the dough onto the dusted surface. The dough will be SUPER hot and sticky, so be careful and dust your hands well!
Using a knife or a bread dough cutter, separate the dough into 12 pieces quickly and flatten them with your palm. (Alternatively, you can flatten the dough first and then separate the dough into 12 pieces, it's up to you.) Make sure you do this while the dough is still hot and form-able.
Take a ball of filling (whichever you like) and stretch the dough over the filling to wrap it. Secure it on one end by squeezing the ends of the dough together until it sticks (it'll work better if the dough is still hot/warm). Repeat until you run out of filling/dough :).

Japanese Cheesecake Recipe

2011-05-04T05:32:00.003-04:00

Love cheesecake, but hate feeling the guilt of eating heavy, regular cheesecake? Then this is the recipe for you!

Light, fluffy melt-in-your-mouth cake with all the goodness of cheesecake, but without the heaviness

> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Moderate - Expensive (depending on your budget)
> Ease: Moderate to Difficult

I've always loved Japanese cheesecake. Although I love western-style cheesecake a lot, I often find that they are too heavy and leave me feeling bloated and guilty. Japanese cheesecake really is a LOT lighter. It's texture is somewhat like a spongecake-- very light, fluffy, and the best part is... it still tastes like regular cheesecake! It's great when you just want a snack and you can cut yourself a slice and munch on it :) ! However, like all cheesecakes, Japanese cheesecakes are pretty delicate and because this isn't as heavy as a regular cheesecake, there needs to be a lot of moisture when baking. I've tried this recipe twice. The first time, I was using a springform pan and immerse it in water... without wrapping it in tin foil. BAD IDEA. The bottom came out very soggy and some of the batter leaked, though it still tasted great. The second time, I filled a pan full of water and placed it on a rack beneath the cheesecake while it baked, but the result was too dry and the top of the cheesecake cracked. Basic cake making skills would definitely be an asset :)

Now this recipe... was modified from another site and pasted into a Word document for easy printing... I don't have the site bookmarked or written down, so if you recognize the recipe from somewhere, just leave the site in the comments so I can give them credit for a great recipe! :)

Ingredients:

7 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup caster sugar (I personally used regular, granulated sugar)
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tbsp lemon juice (If you want it to be less tangy, just use 1 tbsp)
1/2 tspn cream of tartar (This is to help your whipped egg whites keep its form, you don't really HAVE to use it, just be careful with them...)
2.5 cups of boiling water

Methods:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray your cake pan with cooking spray. If you're afraid of it sticking, you can also line your pan with baking paper before spraying.
Beat the cream cheese with milk (preferrably at room temperature) to soften and mix. Add half the sugar, the egg yolks, the cornstarch, and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. It should appear a pale yellow.
Beat on high speed or whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they become foamy. Then add the rest of the sugar and the cream of tartar (if you're using it), and continue to beat/whisk on high speed until they form peaks/little mountains that stay in place, around 8-10 minutes. (If possible, use an electric mixer, unless you have super arms! It'll take longer if you're whisking by hand)
Gradually fold beaten egg whites into the pale yellow mixture, stirring gently. For instructions on folding, visit my post on Tiramisu!
Carefully pour the mixture into your cake pan and smooth the surface gently. Place the cake pan into a larger roasting pan and place it on the lower-mid rack of the oven. (Note: I would highly suggest covering the cake pan well with foil, such that water cannot seep through!)
Pour the boiling water into the roasting pan. The water level should reach halfway up the side of the cake pan. Add more water so that it reaches that level if necessary.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out relatively clean. If you want the cake more condensed and level, when it cools a little (after you take it out), use a clean towel and press down on the top of the cake gently to compress it and keep it level.
Optional: To obtain a heart shaped cake, you can either use a heart-shaped pan, or like me, you can use a bigger pan so that the cake comes out flatter and use a cookie cutter to cut out heart shapes or any other shape you want! Have fun with the cake! :)

Japanese Pickled Cucumber (キュウリ浅漬け) Recipe

2011-05-01T20:22:00.002-04:00

Kyuuri Asazuke :) An easy way to unknowingly finish a whole concombre.

Crisp cucumbers traditionally pickled to for a light and delicious taste

> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Very Easy

If you're craving a healthy and easy snack, kyuuri asazuke are the way to go! All you need to do is make preparation and let it sit overnight (or longer) to have delicious results. This recipe can be used with any type of cut of cucumber. You could slice them thickly, or cut them into rectangles, but my favourite is cutting them into thin slices. It gives me the illusion that I have more and it also calls for a shorter 'marinating' time because the pickling liquid can easily seep into the thin cucumber. I love this snack a lot, and since cucumbers aren't expensive, it's a perfect snack for a student who wants to eat healthy but wants fast food :) !

Ingredients:

1 cucumber (can use english or japanese)
~4 tbsp of rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2-3 tspn salt (for sprinkling)
1/4 tspn salt

Methods:

Slice the cucumber in whatever way you prefer.
Sprinkle and massage the cucumber with 2-3 tspn salt (for sprinkling). Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, no more than 30 minutes.
Rinse out the salt with cold water. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Mix the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt (1/4 tspn), stir until the sugar and salt have fully dissolved.
Marinate the cucumbers in a sealed container overnight for best results. The thicker the cucumbers, the longer you need to marinate. For thinly sliced cucumbers, I found that a couple of hours (~6-8 hours) was plenty for it to have a nice, light taste.

Steamed Black Bean Spare Ribs (蒸豉汁排骨) Recipe

2011-05-01T16:51:00.002-04:00

Steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce... dim sum time anyone? ;)

The aroma of black bean marinated spare ribs, healthily steamed and served dim sum style :)

> Origin: Chinese
> Cost: Inexpensive
> Ease: Very Easy

This is one of my favourite Chinese dishes. Whenever my family and I go to dim sum, my parents know to always order this for me because they know I love it. My mother used to make this for dinner all the time when I lived at home. When she bought a new steamer, she gave me our old one (there's a giant hole in the top from where my sister put it on the stove), and I decided I'd make this for myself too! It's very very simple, you can even marinate the spare ribs beforehand and freeze them so that they're ready-to-steam! This version is exactly like the version you get at dim sum restaurants when you can yum cha, so definitely try it out if you're a fan (like me)!

Ingredients:

~1 - 1.5 lbs pork spare ribs (cut into 1" pieces)
1.5 - 2 tbsp black bean sauce
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
2 tspn cornstarch
1 tspn vegetable oil
1 tspn sugar
1/4 tspn white pepper
salt to taste

Methods:

If your spare ribs aren't already cut, cut them into 1" pieces.
Mix together all the ingredients and marinate the spare ribs in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Depending on what kind of steamer you're using to steam, set up the steamer and turn the heat to high until the water boils. Turn heat to medium-high and put the spare ribs in a steam-able container and steam for around 20 minutes (or until the spare ribs are not pink at all). If you're using a portable steamer (as in not stovetop), let the steamer run for around 5 minutes before putting the spare ribs into the steamer and steaming for an additional 20 minutes.
Turn the steamer off and be careful when removing it from the steamer. Serve!

Tiramisu Recipe

2011-04-29T05:09:00.002-04:00

A heavenly "lift me up" in more ways than one :)

Delicate dessert with rich, creamy marscapone, infused with the energizing ability of two caffeine-ingredients; espresso and cocoa

> Origin: Italian
> Cost: Expensive
> Ease: Difficult

Everybody loves tiramisu. If you don't love it, it's because you've never tried it. Thanks to a good high school friend of mine, I've my hands on her traditional Italian-esque recipe. I actually asked for this recipe when I was in grade 10, and I never got around to making it til 3rd year university... Gotta love hotmail's archiving. In any case, this recipe is absolutely delicious, but it honestly is very difficult. As you can tell from the top two pictures, I made 2 batches; the second, taller one turning out better. Although I'm an advocate for taking creative liberties, I would suggest following the recipe exactly if you aren't familiar with making desserts like such. Please read the recipe through before you start making it. Honestly though, it was so worth it, I enjoyed every bite :)

Ingredients:

1 container (8 ounces) marscapone cheese
4 large eggs, separated
4 tbsp sugar
8-12 cups espresso
4 packages Savoiardi ladyfingers
2-3 shots kahlua
1 tbsp vanilla
Cocoa powder, for sprinkling

Methods:

Make the espresso. Pour it into a wide bowl, and let it cool to a little bit hotter than room temperature, then add kahlua. Allow it to cool on the counter together. Mix in the vanilla when the mixture has cooled.
In a bowl, mix together the sugar and egg yolks.
In another bowl, whisk/mix on maximum speed the egg whites until they become foamy with stiff mountains that don't collapse (around 5 minutes).
Mix the marscapone into the egg yolk mixture until the mixture is a pale yellow.
*Be careful with this step!!* Spoon half of the egg whites into the pale yellow mixture and carefully fold it into the mixture (see this video for help). Make sure you don't bang the mixture on the counter, otherwise the egg whites will go flat.
Dipping the ladyfingers: Your set-up will be (left to right, or other way if you're left-handed): Ladyfingers, Espresso, Casserole Dish (5x11"). Take a ladyfinger and, like an airplane, dive it into the espresso mixture, right in and right out, so they don't get soggy. Imagine the bottom of a smiley face. Lay the dipped ladyfinger into the casserole dish, with the thin end of the ladyfinger touching the long end of the dish (so there will be ~11 ladyfingers along the 5x11" dish). Repeat until the bottom of the dish is layered one ladyfinger thick. This is your base layer.
Pour half of the egg mixture and spread it carefully over the base layer. Try to cover the entire layer.
Repeat step 6 onto the egg mixture layer.
Spread the other half of the mixture on top of the second ladyfinger layer.
Sprinkle with cocoa powder (or if you prefer sweeter, hot chocolate or nesquick powder). I did prefer the cocoa powder more though.
Refrigerate overnight (at least) and serve cold!

Notes:

It's REALLY easy to make the ladyfingers too soggy. Keep in mind that after you dip them, the ladyfingers will continue to absorb the espresso through, so it's okay if you don't completely IMMERSE it in the espresso. (In fact, it's probably better if onto the bottom half gets dipped.)
Getting the folding right might take some time, don't be impatient with it. Also, don't take too long dipping the ladyfingers into the espresso (step 6), otherwise your egg mixture will start to sag and dissociate (er.. de-mix...?).

Teriyaki Steak Strips Recipe

2011-04-28T22:58:00.003-04:00

Excuse the horrible picture... I think I made this during midterm season :(

Sweet taste of teriyaki marinated steak strips, grilled or pan-fried to perfection

> Origin: Japanese/Western Fusion
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Very Easy

I love meat. I love steak the most. I tend to eat mine rare or medium rare, but to be very honest, eating the same old steak all the time gets kind of boring. The best thing to do with a not-so-good cut of steak would be to cut it up and marinate it awesomely. Most of the time, I love eating my steak plain because I love the natural flavour, but often times, certain cuts of steak won't taste as good, so it's worth it to marinate it a bit to bring out some hidden flavours. Here's one way of doing it... :)

Ingredients:

Any type of steak
Teriyaki Marinade:

1 cup soy sauce (light)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp ginger (minced)
2 tbsp garlic (minced)
3 tbsp finely chopped green onion
Pinch of black pepper
1/2 tbsp oil

Methods:

Mix the ingredients for the marinade together until sugar is dissolved.
Trim the fat off your steaks and cut into strips.
Marinate the strips in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, for best results.
Grill on skewers or off, uncovered, on medium heat for around 7-10 minutes (flip it halfway) or until desired done-ness. You can brush them with honey while grilling if you like it a bit sweeter :)

Cocoa Banana Bread Recipe

2011-04-26T18:09:00.001-04:00

Cocoa banana bread fresh out of the oven!

Traditional banana bread with a hint of chocolate fresh from the oven

> Origin: Western
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Easy

Back when I was a little girl, my mom used to make banana bread all the time. Her banana bread was honestly the best thing in the world, and it'd get finished in 2-3 days easily. I loved the sticky top of the bread and the crunchy exterior, and of course, the soft center. Sometimes she'd add walnuts because my dad is a big fan of nuts and she added blueberries one time as well. I remember making it with her a lot as a kid, it was a lot of fun and after awhile, I learned the recipe by heart as well. It was so simple, but so good. Banana bread should be something that everyone knows how to make. The recipe is super easy, so it's hard to mess up/go wrong-- so please try it out and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn vanilla
1/2 tspn salt
3 bananas, mashed
Handful of chopped walnuts (optional)
Handful of chocolate chips (optional)

Methods:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your pan.
Mix butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla, mix well.
In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Stir into butter mixture until smooth. Mix in bananas and walnuts/chocolate chips/etc.
Pour evenly into the pan so that the batter surface is flat.
Bake for around 60 minutes (1 hours) or until the toothpick comes out relatively clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan, serve or allow to cool completely before storing for another day.

Lemon Chicken (檸檬雞) Recipe

2011-04-25T19:36:00.005-04:00

Adapted from Chinese Lemon Chicken by Bobby (BlogChef.net) :) Thanks for a great recipe!

Sweetness with a hint of sour :)

Thick, sweet lemon sauce poured over deep-fried chicken pieces, served over rice
> Origin: Chinese
> Cost: Inexpensive
> Ease: Moderate

Lemon chicken is a classical favourite when it comes to Chinese cuisine. Even though it's called lemon chicken, the sourness of the lemon is never overpowering and it complements the sweet flavour well. I've tried many different versions of lemon chicken-- some of which are too sour, or just taste plain weird. To be very honest, I did a lot of adjustment with the sauce after making the lemon sauce. Like with any recipe, it's important to taste the sauce before adding it to the chicken, otherwise you might ruin the whole thing, right?

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch cubes)

Marinade: 2 tbsp soy sauce, salt to taste

2 large eggs
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn white pepper
Oil (for frying)
Lemon Sauce:

~1/3 cup sugar
1.5 tbsp corn starch
1 cup chicken brown
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tspn salt (take care not to put too much in...)
3 slices of lemon (peeled --otherwise it'll become bitter)
2 tbsp oil

Methods:

Marinate chicken breasts in refrigerator for 30+ minutes.
Beat 2 large eggs and mix with cornstarch, baking powder, and white pepper. Coat the chicken in the egg batter.
In a wide wok, heat the oil and fry the chicken until they are golden brown. Drain the chicken on paper towel.
To make the sauce, combine the sugar, cornstarch, chicken broth, lemon juice, and salt (if you're using yellow food colouring, add it now). Mix it until everything has dissolved and add 3 slices of lemon to the sauce mixture.
Heat a bit of oil in the wok and stir in the lemon mixture. Heat the mixture until the sauce becomes translucent. Remove the lemon slices.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve over rice.

Chocolate Banana Cake Recipe

2011-04-25T18:37:00.001-04:00

Decadent chocolate cake with the deliciousness of bananas <3

Rich and moist chocolate cake baked with fragrant mashed bananas and melted chocolate chips, topped with a creamy chocolate ganache

> Origin: Chocolate
> Cost: Cheap
> Ease: Easy

Who doesn't love chocolate cake? Honestly, this is a REALLY rich chocolate cake. This is kind of just a basic chocolate cake recipe you can find anywhere on the internet, with some bananas and chocolate chips added in. *I got the adding in small chocolate chips from a site, but I can't remember for the life of me. If I find, I shall link you guys!* I found that the banana taste was a bit too weak, so next time I make it, I think I'll be more generous with the bananas, since banana chocolate cake is awesome. I might also do a layer cake, in which there's a center chocolate banana mixture for texture-sake. I loved the chocolate ganache, and I tend to make it and just pour like crazy whenever I make chocolate cakes now. I did make a mistake of pouring it on too soon with the first cake I made, it's a lot better to let it cool so it thickens a bit more, so it doesn't all pour off onto the plate :P !

Ingredients:

- 2 cups sugar

- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

- 3/4 cup cocoa powder

- 1 1/2 tspn baking powder

- 1 1/2 tspn baking soda

- 1/2 tspn salt

- 2 large eggs (room temperature)

- 1.5 cups mashed bananas

- 1.5 cups small chocolate chips (you can mix in some normal sized too)

- 1 cup warm water

- 1/2 cup (warm) milk

- 1/2 cup corn oil

- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Spray your cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract (all at room temperature). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir/whisk until well-combined. Add in the chocolate chips and stir again. You will notice that the batter is quite thin. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out 'relatively' clean. (Tip: If your toothpick comes out completely clean, your cake is too well-done. Remember that it will continue to bake a little bit after you take it out of the oven due to the heat still trapped inside.)

4. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost with the ganache.

Notes:

> When baking a cake, make sure you don't open the oven all the time to check on your cake (no matter how tempting it is). Everytime you open the oven, the pressure changes and the heat distribution changes. In addition, if you slam the door shut afterwards, it could cause the air inside your cake to pop and the cake might be collapsed in the middle. Same with when you take it out of the oven, carefully place it down and no sudden movements! :D

Chocolate Ganache (Credits to [Insert Name and Link ><;;]:

- 9 oz (0.26kg/1.15cups/266ml) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

- 1 cup heavy cream

1. Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.

2. Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over a cake. Start at the center of the cake and work outward. For a fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐) Recipe

2011-04-24T04:40:00.002-04:00

Delicate Szechuan spice with the soft texture of tofu :)

Spicy chili tofu mixed with marinated minced pork in Szechuan style served over rice

> Origin: Chinese
> Cost: Inexpensive
> Ease: Moderate

I always loved Mapo Tofu. It's a really easy dish to make if you're feeling Chinese food, but you don't want to put any effort in. The hardest part would be finding the ingredients in a non-Asian-invaded city (*cough*Hamilton*cough*). That being said, I imported all my materials (firm tofu, chili sauce, black bean sauce) from my hometown, Markham, when I go back for the weekends. This dish is really customizable. I know there are many people who prefer it to be less 'saucy' and more dry, so they add less water and oil when cooking. Some people like it more spicy, others like it more black bean-flavoured. That being said, this recipe is very 'traditional' restaurant style (minus the MSG). Best is served over fresh jasmine rice, but for the sake of I-am-a-poor-student-and-I-have-no-rice-ness, I used short grain rice, which honestly wasn't bad. I hear there's also a Japanese variation of Mapo Tofu. I'd like to try that someday...... in Japan.

Mapo Tofu Recipe
Ingredients:

1 block soft tofu (about 1 pound), drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons peanut oil
6 ounces ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, thinly sliced at an angle (or a handful of scallions can be substituted)
2 1/2 tablespoons chili bean paste
1 tablespoon fermented black beans
2 teaspoons ground Sichuan pepper
1 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
Salt to taste
4 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons cold water

Methods:

Heat peanut oil in a wok over high heat. Add pork and stir-fry until crispy and starting to brown but not yet dry. Reduce heat to medium, then add the garlic and leeks and stir-fry until fragrant.
Add chili bean paste, black beans, and ground Szechuan pepper, and stir-fry for about 1 minute, until the oil is a rich red color.
Pour in the stock and stir well. Mix in the drained tofu gently by pushing the back of your ladle or wok scoop gently from the edges to the center of the wok or pan; don't stir or the tofu may break up. Season with the sugar, soy sauce, and salt to taste.
Simmer for about 5 minutes, allowing the tofu has absorb the flavors of the sauce. Then add the cornstarch mixture in 2 or 3 stages, mixing well, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. (Don't add more than you need).
Serve while still hot in a deep plate or wide bowl.

Original recipe from: (Still trying to find it!)

Sneak Peek

2011-04-22T04:48:00.000-04:00

Hey guys!

Yes, I am posting this at 4:00 AM :) and I'm currently trying to resist the urge to post all the recipes all at once. I have around 20 more recipes to post before I'm technically "caught up". I'll try to post them all up as soon as I can, just so that the new projects won't get mixed in with the old ones. I wish I started one of these blogs earlier though. In any case, I'm posting the public link to one of my Facebook albums that contains all the things I've made so far (or most of them anyway). So enjoy!

Just a little sneak preview of the things I've made...

If you want me to post any of those recipes next, just leave me a comment or a message or something!

l'amour toujours♥
michelle

Japanese Curry with Chicken Katsu (チキンカツカレーライス) Recipe

2011-04-22T02:03:00.003-04:00

And the sweet scent of curry sweeps the room, so very delicious...

Japanese Curry with Chicken Katsu
Fragrant Japanese-style curry with a crispy fried chicken breast
> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Inexpensive
> Ease: Moderate

Japanese curry is bomb :D! It tends to be a bit thicker than curries from other cultures. It also tends to be more on the fragrant and sweet side, rather than awesomely spicy. In fact, a lot of the time, Japanese curry comes in premade cubes that you can buy at the local grocery store. Those tastes pretty good, but something about homemade is always better, right? In addition, you can adjust the taste to your liking. In other words, the salt or spice level is all up to your taste! Though those premade cubes really do save a lot of trouble, but if you don’t buy them on sale, it’s definitely more costly. Cost for time? Convenience for taste? Sometimes, it’s hard to decide…. If it’s cost versus time, as a student, I shouldn’t even be eating curry then!

Ingredients:
Chicken Katsu

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves (pounded to desired thickness)

Thinner is better :D

1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (for frying)

Japanese Curry

4 medium potatoes, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water
2 chicken boullion cubes
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cups of flour or 1/8 cup of cornstarch
~4 tbsp curry powder

Methods:
Japanese Curry

In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil. Sauté onion and garlic until softened.
Add the carrots and potatoes, stir a few times, and then add the water and boullion. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
While the meat is cooking, make a roux out of the remaining 3 Tbsp oil and the flour: heat oil in a medium skillet until shimmering. Over low-medium heat, add flour and stir, cooking until the flour is blended and takes on a pale golden hue.
Add curry powder and chili powder, using the back of the spatula to blend it into the roux. The mixture will be powdery and dry.
Take 1/2 C of the hot liquid from the meat pot and slowly add it to the curry-roux mixture, stiring constantly to form a smooth paste.
By spoonfuls, add the curry paste back to the first mixture, stirring to dissolve. Add salt.
Simmer the curry for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the beef and vegetables are tender.
While curry is finishing up, bring rice and water to a boil in a pot, immediately reduce heat to low, cover the pot with its lid, and cook for 20 minutes.
Serve curry with rice in shallow bowls. There should be approximately twice as much curry as rice in the bowl.

Chicken Katsu:

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
Season flattened chicken with salt & pepper. Dip flattened chicken pieces first into flour, then egg, and lastly bread crumbs.
Fry breaded chicken breasts in preheated oil until golden brown and no longer pink in center, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.
After excess oil has been observed, serve whole or cut into slices with the curry.

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Recipe

2011-04-21T23:20:00.003-04:00

I make this quite often actually, sometimes I use more fatty ingredients if I'm feeling fat... Definitely taste the recipe before you add the pasta in, because once the pasta's in, there's no turning back!

Chicken Alfredo Pasta (Low Fat)
Creamy margarine-milk white sauce with garlic grilled chicken on spaghetti
> Origin: Italian
> Cost: Moderate
> Ease: Easy

So this is the first recipe that I took a picture of… It’s not that I never made anything before this, it’s just that I happened to start using my new camera around this time. In any case, this recipe was something adapted from a long while ago. I don’t even remember where I got it from or what the original recipe was. There’s a lot of substituting going on here due to my lack of ingredients, being a poor student… But it turned out pretty good. Just keep in mind that the recipe itself is very make-shift… as I don’t really follow the recipe to a T. So make adjustments where necessary! There’s your disclaimer right there :P !

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Recipe
Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts (marinated with melted margarine and minced garlic)
1 package of pasta (fettuccine, spaghetti, penne, etc.)

Alfredo Sauce

1 cup all-purpose flour (or 1/2 cup cornstarch)

I used flour because I had no cornstarch...

3 cups parmesan
5 cups skim milk
1 cup margarine
2 tbsp of minced garlic
2~ tbsp parsley
1 tbsp ground pepper or peppercorn
Handful of chopped broccoli heads (optional)

Methods:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken on aluminum foil for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown at top.
In a pot of boiling water, add a few pinches of salt and cook pasta for 7-8 minutes, or until desired texture is reached.
In a pot, set at medium heat, mix milk, parmesan, and margarine, until both parmesan and margarine are fully melted. Add flour and whisk until all clumps are dispersed. Mix in the minced garlic, parsley, ground pepper, and broccoli heads. Mix until a creamy mixture is obtained. *If you need to thicken, you can add more flour or cornstarch. Taste and make adjustments where necessary.
Add pasta to the sauce, mix well. Serve on a plate with sliced chicken on top. (Optional: Add some parmesan cheese and parsley on top for taste.)

Omurice (オムライス) Recipe

2011-04-21T21:44:00.003-04:00

This is the first time I've tried making this, it really is different than how it looks! Still delicious though :)
とてもおいしかったですよね！

OMURICE (オムライス)
Fried rice wrapped in a fluffy omelette
> Origin: Japanese
> Cost: Inexpensive
> Ease: Extremely easy

After having read so much manga with maid cafes, I’ve always wanted to try making Omurice. After looking up many recipes and watching many tutorials, I decided to try my hand at this. To be very honest, I always thought that it was made with white rice, but then I realized that it wouldn’t be very tasty at all. The fried rice is actually pretty versatile, you can put whatever kind of fried rice you want in it, It’s pretty much up to you. But since tomato and eggs go extremely well together, I decided to make a tomato-based fried rice to suit the egg and ketchup that goes on top.

Omurice (オムライス) Recipe
Ingredients:
Tomato Pork Fried Rice (Makes ~5-6 omurices)

2-3 cups of cooked rice (preferrably left in the fridge overnight)
3-4 pork chops (or 2 boneless chicken breasts), diced
3 cups of frozen vegetables
1 cup of chopped/diced onions
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
Ketchup to taste
Chopped green onion to taste
Sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Omelette

2 large eggs, beaten, per Omurice
Ketchup for garnish

Methods:

Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok (any type of oil will do) on medium-high heat. Add the onion, vegetables and then, pork and stir-fry until the pork is fully cooked.
Portion by portion, add the rice and mix it well with the vegetables. Break up any clumps in the rice and make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Add a bit more oil if necessary.
Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste to the mixture and mix well. If necessary, add ketchup and sugar to sweeten. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir-fry until everything is mixed well and take it off heat.
Heat oil in a large round pan on medium-high heat. Make sure the pan is completely hot before pouring the egg in. Tilt the pan so that the base is completely covered by the egg.
Allow the egg to cook and poke out any air bubbles that arise. Make sure the egg mixture is fully cooked by tilting and moving the egg around.
When the eggs are fully cooked, lower the heat to a low setting and place rice in the middle third of the egg. Fold one end of the egg over the rice.
Gently slide the folded end of the omelette over to the side of the pan and fold the other end over. Carefully flip the omelette from the pan onto a plate and tuck the edges of the omelette to the bottom of the omurice.
Garnish with ketchup and serve!

Message from the Kitchen

2011-04-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to cooking with michèle ♥

I'll be your host for this adventure. I'm Michelle. I'm a third year, entering fourth year student studying Life Sciences at McMaster University. I'm 20 years old, and trying to balance my life... To be very honest, this probably won't help one bit :P ~

This is me!

I'm not actually blogging this from my kitchen.

I'm actually transferring this from my tumblr to blogger just because... well, tumblr is a bit annoying for these types of blogs. I'm being extremely lazy and using a template. Hopefully I can get around to writing up a code and designing a page during the summer, but right now... I just want to bask in my newfound freedom. As of 11:00 AM today, EXAMS SHALL HAUNT ME NO MORE. Yes, exciting, isn't it? I originally planned to celebrate with some de-stress baking and cooking, but there's no way. I'm way too tired and I still need to clean my room and pack. All in all, I'm so glad that such things are over and done with.

I'll periodically mix some of my old projects with new, since I'll probably have instances where I won't be able to cook/bake/make anything. Plus, it's way too much work to post everything up at the same time... I'll do it slowly. I shall be posting things and recipes and such that I've already made, and things I've yet to try, and places I've yet to go. So please keep reading and maybe you'll see something delicious? :)

l'amour toujours♥
michelle